Chapter Text
Credit to @puppeteerparties on Tumblr for the artwork here (https://www.tumblr.com/puppeteerparties/803396499546472448/hello-mr-and-mrs-molloy-thank-you-for-coming) that inspired this story.
Additional author’s notes at the end.
December 8, 1991.
It hadn’t even been that serious a fight. One small disagreement about where to hang the new Rembrandt seascape and Louis had walked out, presumably on his latest round of ‘fuck-off-and-come-find-me.’ In all likelihood, he’d go find some boy to fuck and drain and return home in a day or two. They’d been through this once or twice before. Armand hadn’t stayed to find out if this was indeed the case, as he had, in the heat of his own slight frustration, decided to sate a lingering curiosity.
He hadn’t seen Daniel Molloy in several years, not since he had lightly edited the journalist’s memories and they’d gone their separate ways. But it had occurred to Armand in recent days that leaving didn’t necessarily preclude checking in…
Thus, if you asked the vampire Armand why he was sitting out in the cold on Daniel Molloy’s fire escape, he’d tell you he was fine. Which wouldn’t answer your question. He may also tell you he wasn’t sulking, or moping, or eavesdropping on his ex-paramour as he argued with his wife.
“Alice, come on…this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’ll be back before you know it.” The context was less than ideal, to be sure, but hearing Daniel’s voice again was enough to send his heart racing.
“You know what else happens once in a lifetime, Daniel? Your tenth wedding anniversary. That’s-” An uncomfortably long pause hung in the air. “….oh my god, you forgot. Didn’t you? Didn’t you?”
“Shit. Alice…”
“Nope, I don’t want to hear it. I do not want to hear it. There’s always, always something better for you to be doing. You’re the big hotshot journalist and you can’t be bothered to spend time with your stupid ball and chain of a wife because your life is way too fascinating for that.” Right outside the window, Armand winced at her word choice.
“Alice, the Soviet Union is collapsing.”
“Our marriage is collapsing!” With a sudden, loud crash, something sizable smashed through the window mere inches from Armand’s head, flying past him and setting off a car alarm somewhere below. He skittered backward on the wrought iron platform like an oversized spider, startled and trying not to be seen.
Two windows (including the now-broken one) had access to the fire escape, and Armand glanced through the other window now as he shook shards of broken glass from his hair. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been counting on someone looking back.
In the darkened bedroom, illuminated by the warm glow of a nightlight on the far wall, a small figure sat upright in bed. The child looked to be a girl of about six, with dark curls spilling past her shoulders and a nightgown printed with some sort of cartoon character. Her round, pale green eyes had a magnetic pull, freezing Armand in place, just-
Just like her father.
It wasn’t that Armand had forgotten that Daniel had children, not exactly. It was more that it continued to surprise him. The man he’d once scooped up from seemingly every gutter in the state of California had now created two more lives to be responsible for in addition to his own.
Now, it wasn’t often like Armand to leave behind loose ends. But even discounting the girl’s connection to Daniel (which did mean a great deal to him), Armand made it a policy to not harm children. He’d seen far too many horrible things done to children in his life, and as for his own childhood… Well. The less said about that, the better.
As Daniel and Alice’s fight inevitably shifted to the broken window, the wintery chill, and the call they’d have to make to their building’s inattentive super in the morning, Armand knew he didn’t have long before someone (read: an adult) investigated and found him. Inside this second bedroom, Daniel’s other daughter appeared to be fast asleep in her crib, and Armand wondered what could wake her if the breaking window in the next room had not. As he assessed his predicament, the girl in the bed raised a hand and waved at him.
Armand didn’t wave back, instead focusing in on the girl’s mind as his eyes began to vibrate. ‘Rest,’ he thought to her as he compelled her to forget she saw him and go back to sleep.
He watched as the girl crinkled up her nose a few times, as if trying to stifle a sneeze. Then, he heard her think back to him: ‘No, I’m not sleepy. It’s hard to sleep when Mommy and Daddy are fighting. Who are you? How are you talking to me inside my brain? That’s weird.’
He could ask her the same thing; he hadn’t expected her to talk back. Or to resist his Mind Gift at all, for that matter. ‘Didn’t Mommy and Daddy tell you not to talk to strangers?’
‘Yeah, but a normal stranger can’t talk in my brain. How do you do that? Do you have magic powers?’
Alright, so the girl was more like her father than he anticipated. Stubborn, persistent little thing. Thinking quickly, Armand decided on another strategy--lean into it. Make sure no one could ever believe her. ‘If you must know, I am Armand. I am an ancient and powerful being who is very dangerous and not to be trifled with. And yes, you could say I have magic powers if that’s easier for your tiny mortal mind to comprehend.’
‘Oh. Okay. Nice to meet you, Almond. I’m Katie.’
Armand’s eyes narrowed. ‘I beg your pardon? Almond?’
The girl grinned and nodded. ‘Yeah, you said you’re Almond. And I’m Katie.’
‘Recall what I just said about trifling with me.’ An empty threat, of course.
‘I don’t know what that means.’
‘It means I’m a monster and you should be scared of me.’ Armand still wasn’t sure why he had no apparent control over her mind, but he harnessed the Cloud Gift and rose to hover just above the fire escape.
Katie’s eyes grew wider, though curiously not from fear. ‘YOU CAN FLY, TOO?’
‘I can. And so much more than that. Now, do try to get some sleep, Katie Molloy. I imagine you have school in the morning, yes?’
Katie thought a sigh so heavy it rattled between Armand’s ears. He assumed it was also a real sigh, as he saw her little shoulders rise and fall. ‘I do…’
‘That’s what I thought. Now, goodnight. May no monsters hunt you in your dreams.’
At long last, Katie laid back down in her bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. In the next room, the argument between Daniel and Alice seemed to have died down to a low murmur of voices. ‘Okay. Goodnight, Almond.’
Armand decided not to argue with her about the name this time, instead rising upward into the Brooklyn night. He had come to this place with the (somewhat pathetic) desire to merely be near Daniel again, to see him and hear his voice. But now? The girl intrigued him. There was more to her than met the eye, and he wanted to know why that was.
***
The next morning, Katie was mostly quiet as she ate her Cheerios. Mommy was helping Lenora with breakfast, since she was only two, while Daddy ran around the apartment packing for a trip. Apparently he was going to Russia, which was very far away, because the news was happening there. Katie was sad he’d be missing the last night of Hanukkah that night, and she worried he’d be gone long enough to miss Christmas, too. Normally, Katie liked that her family did both holidays, since it meant more presents, but neither would be as much fun without Daddy.
She hadn’t been sure if she should tell her parents about Almond, but she ultimately decided it would be a good idea.
“I made a new friend last night,” she said to Mommy. “His name is Almond and he has glowy orange eyes and magic powers. He was really nice to me, but then he flew away.”
Mommy paused with a spoonful of applesauce halfway to Lenora’s mouth. She looked extra sleepy this morning, probably because of all the fighting. “Oh, really? Where was this friend?”
Katie paused to pick up her bowl and drink the cereal milk. “Outside the window, on the fire escape. But then he flew away.”
Mommy frowned, and Katie worried that telling her may have been a bad idea. Clearly things weren’t okay with Daddy, and Katie liked to help and not make things worse. “Flew?”
She set her bowl down and nodded. “Yup. He didn’t have wings, but he could float around. Like astronauts when they’re in the space shuttle.” Katie liked astronauts a lot, and she wanted to be one when she grew up.
Mommy nodded, looking like she was thinking very hard because she had frowning eyebrows. “Hmm. What did Almond look like? Other than glowy orange eyes?”
Katie shrugged. “It was dark, so I couldn’t see. Just his eyes. He looked really tall and skinny, and he had curly hair. He just looked like a man, but he had magic powers.”
Mommy set aside Lenora’s breakfast, which made her whine, and turned to fully face Katie, looking very serious. “Katie, if there was a strange man on the fire escape, you need to tell me everything, okay? We live in a big city, and not everyone is going to be nice. Did this man try to get inside?”
She shook her head. “No, he stayed outside. But he wasn’t a regular man--he was magic! He tried to tell me he was a scary monster, but I didn’t believe him.”
“How did you talk to each other with the window closed?”
“With magic!” Mommy looked very concerned, so Katie gave her a big smile to hopefully make her feel better. “He would think and I would think and I didn’t move my mouth at all! It was soooo cool!”
Mommy nodded, relaxing slightly. Years later, she’d tell Katie that it was at this point that she became fairly convinced this was an imaginary friend situation. Still, after Katie went to school, Lenora went down for her nap, and the grumpy maintenance man came to see the broken window, Mommy had run around the apartment checking the latches on all the doors and windows, even going outside to check that the fire escape hadn’t been tampered with. After all, New York had a lot of creepy, mean strangers, and Daddy’s work (however little Katie understood it at the time) made him meet creepy, mean people sometimes.
But before Mommy could ask another question, though, Daddy came into the kitchen. Katie saw that he had the big suitcase, and her heart sank. The big suitcase always meant he’d be gone a really long time. “Alright, I gotta go. My cab’s waiting outside. I’ll see you all very soon.” He leaned down and gave Mommy a little peck on the cheek. She gave him the tiniest of smiles, but Katie thought her eyes looked sad.
Katie’s lip wobbled, though she was trying very hard not to cry (she wasn’t a baby anymore, after all). “Do you have to go?”
Daddy crouched down to give her a hug, ruffling her hair. “Yeah, I’m afraid I do, honey bun.”
“Can I come with you?”
He shook his head. “No, not this time. You need to stay here and help your mom and Lenora. I’ll be back before you know it, and I’ll bring you something cool from Russia. Okay?”
Katie sniffled and nodded, not looking at him. Daddy planted a kiss on top of her head and straightened up beside her. “Be good. Don’t burn the place down while I’m gone.” He always said that when he was leaving, trying to make her laugh. It didn’t work this time.
He said his goodbyes to Mommy and Lenora, then headed out. Katie slumped in her chair as the front door clicked shut. “I don’t want to go to school. My tummy hurts.”
Unfortunately, Mommy still made Katie go to school that day, which Katie would argue was a mistake. She got a bad grade back on her math quiz, and Heather Grady was as mean as usual during indoor recess. In the afternoon, they had art class, and the assignment was to draw a picture of the people they’d be spending the holidays with (or already were, in the case of the winter holidays already underway). A bit of a sore subject.
Katie started by drawing herself and Lenora, then Mommy. She paused, then, wondering if she should include Daddy or not. She decided to include him--after all, he had been there for seven out of eight nights of Hanukkah. And even though she was already preparing herself for disappointment, she did wish…
Grandma and Grandpa Molloy lived in California, and Granny Judy had moved to Florida, so Katie got to talk to them on the phone this year but not see them for the holidays. But there was still space on her piece of paper, and she still had the black crayon in her hand from drawing the curlicues of her and Daddy’s hair. It took a lot of scribbling to color him in all the way, but there he was, all black with orange circles for eyes. Her new friend, Almond.
When Katie got home, Mommy was sitting on the couch, talking on the phone. Eyes closed, massaging her temple, a cigarette between her fingers. Katie got the sense the call might not be going well.
“I understand your concern, Mrs. Caldwell. Yes. Mmhm. Nothing’s happened. I think she just has a new imaginary friend, that’s all. No, I don’t think this is about anything real. Mmhm. Mmhm. Look, I’m not sure what else there is to say about this. Katie is fine. This is fine. We’re all fine. Thank you. Have a good evening.”
Mommy set the phone back in the cradle and ashed her cigarette. Katie knew she was trying to smoke less, especially around her and Lenora. But things had been hard since last night. Katie sat next to her mother and hugged her tightly. “You okay, Mommy?”
“Yes, sweet pea. I’m okay. You drew a picture at school today?”
Katie nodded, still pressed against her mother’s side. “Am I in trouble?”
Mommy chuckled, though the sound was a little hollow. “No, you’re not. Can I see?”
Katie loved talking about art with her mother, even if the art was just her own little doodles. She’d worked at an art museum when she met Daddy, and she always said she planned to go back soon, once Lenora was old enough to go to school. She opened up her backpack and pulled out the drawing, which she’d tucked inside her reading textbook so it wouldn’t get wrinkled. She handed the drawing to Mommy, who gave another of those sad smiles as she looked it over. “This is really sweet, Katie.”
“No! Do it like an art lady!”
Mommy leaned over and kissed Katie on top of her head. “Okay. I appreciate what the artist did with negative space. The plain white background is an interesting choice; it makes the figures stand out more. Some might say it makes the piece look unfinished, but I think there’s a certain possibility there. They’re outside of time and space and any context whatsoever. They can be anywhere. They can be anything. The artist’s self portrait is the second smallest, suggesting humility maybe.” She gave Katie a squeeze. “Or maybe she’s actually that little.” Katie giggled. “The figure labeled ‘Lenora’ is tiny and amorphous, a seedling still waiting to grow. One single squiggle of hair symbolizes her youth.”
The real Lenora, who had a whole mop of curls by now, was babbling (mostly) incoherently on the rug, as she had assembled her stuffed animals for what appeared to be a business meeting.
Mommy continued— “The figures labeled Mommy and Daddy look…happy. This critic does appreciate that the artist made Mommy look skinny, with her hair done. Thank you for that. The standout figure in the piece is obviously…Almond. He stands apart from the others in the piece, both there and not. An ambiguous figure, with a face that’s impossible to read. He could represent dread, uncertainty, sadness, or something else entirely. The artist leaves it up to interpretation.” She looked down at Katie. “How was that?”
Katie gave a satisfied nod as she played with the hem of her mother’s oversized, cozy sweater. “You’re good at being an art lady.”
“Thank you, sweet pea. Do you have any homework?”
“Just reading a story. And a math worksheet,” she said with a sigh, as math was her worst subject. On top of that, first grade had way more homework than kindergarten did. Katie wasn’t a fan.
“Do you want help?”
A shrug. “Maybe? I want to do it myself first.” Katie hopped off the couch and dragged her backpack down the hall to her bedroom.
At her desk, Katie didn’t start in on homework right away. Rather, she pulled out a piece of blank paper and her favorite pink gel pen. She didn’t have much experience writing letters yet, but she had written a couple letters to her Granny Judy after she moved. She felt reasonably sure she knew what she was doing.
Dear Almond,
How are you? I am good. I hope you come back tonight because I like you and I want to be freinds. Do you like snacks? I think we have pretzles, saltine crackers with peanut butter, grapes but only the green kind, and maybe some jelly beans but they belong to Daddy. If you come over again, that’s all I could give you by myself because I’m not alowed to use the stove. Or the toaster or the microwave. What is your favorite color? Mine is actualy green but you might not realize that because I’m useing a pink pen. They're allowed to be different ok??? Well anyway I have to go now. Please visit again soon.
Love,
Katherine Anne Molloy
(Katie)
Katie read over her letter with a satisfied smile, then set it and the drawing within view of the window.
She worked on her homework until dinner, and then she gathered around the menorah in the living room window with her mother and sister. As long as her hand was being guided for her, Katie was allowed to light all the candles while Mommy recited the blessings. The Hebrew flowed quickly and easily when it came from her mother, and maybe it was mean to think so, but Daddy always sounded like he didn’t know what he was doing. Her present for the eighth and final night of Hanukkah was The Little Mermaid on VHS, which was exciting because she had wanted to see it again for a long time, ever since she’d gone to the movie theater with… Oh, she’d gone to see that with Daddy, hadn’t she?
Later that night, as Katie crawled into bed, a mean part of her brain wished for Daddy to be sad and lonely in Russia. Then, she felt guilty for having thought that. She didn’t have to think mean things just because she missed him. Because she loved him.
Katie wasn’t sure how long she lay awake with her thoughts, but it felt like a long time. Maybe it had been minutes, or maybe hours, but when she next glanced out the window, she was thrilled to see a pair of glowing orange eyes looking back.